Creamfarfalle: July 2014

Let's just face it. We all visit Hong Kong to eat. Shopping hasn't been all that great the past few years because the prices have risen quite a bit so we just end up eating all the time. Best thing to do! Just got back from a trip to Hong Kong not long ago and ventured to quite a few places.

YAT LOK ROAST GOOSE

You cannot leave HK without having their roast goose. They are the most succulent meat and most satisfying dish you will find in HK. Trust me. Pair it with some oyster sauce vegetables and iced milk tea and you have yourself the perfect meal!

I've tried quite a few other roast goose places in HK such as Yung Kee Roast Goose but I really like the Yat Lok one as well.

Located very near to Central MTR station, it is one of the stalls located on the right lane.

Everything's in Mandarin though, even the stall name so do keep your eyes peeled for the roast goose hanging on display along the road

28 Stanley Street, Central

+852 2524 3882

MTR: Central

YARDBIRD

Yardbird is a yakitori bar. They serve up an extensive selection of nose to tail chicken yakitori skewers, salads and delicious cocktails. We stayed at Sheung Wan and yardbird was literally a 5min walk from our place. So convenient!

We ordered a good amount of yakitori skewers but that bowl of KFC (Korean Fried Cauliflower) really blew my mind. It was mixed with this korean yuzu chili paste thing that included mirin and topped w sesame seeds. I've never tasted cauliflower this flavourful

and THIS. Their Chicken and Egg rice that comes w crispy chicken skin, a soft boiled egg and peas and you're supposed to mix everything up into this yummy delicious concoction of chicken rice. The egg yolk made the rice really sticky and tacky and full of goodness.

For drinks, I got their yaki lime which consisted of rum, lime, mint and muscovado sugar. Usually, I don't drink sour drinks at all and wanna associate myself w anything too sour but the muscovado sugar in the drink really gave it a nice balance. Technically similar to a mohjito

Nice atmosphere as well, staff are really friendly and they even make their own tshirts for sale!

33-35 Bridges Street

+852 2547 9273

(Monday to Saturday) 6pm - 12midnight

MTR: Sheung Wan

LAN FONG YUEN

You also cannot leave HK without having breakfast at one of their Cha Chan Teng. It is like a staple for the people living there. We had the noodles w luncheon meat and egg and their pork buns. People rave a lot about their pork buns but I thought it was good, but not fantastic.

Love their french toast though and you must drizzle it w the honey sauce. Amazeballs.

2 Gage Street

+852 2544 3895

MTR: Hong Kong/Central

UNDER THE BRIDGE CRAB

Under the Bridge Crab is a chinese restaurant that sells dishes, and their most popular being their chili crab (which is nothing like the chili crab we have here in Singapore)

Their roast meat platter

This is their chili crab. I believe it came with like a spicy level as well and we chose something much milder but already had quite a large chili kick to it already. Filled w crumbs and chili flakes in them. Not for the weak-hearted.

405 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

+852 2573 7698

MTR: Causeway Bay

QUINARY

Quinary is one of the most popular mixology bars in Hong Kong, so definitely a must go if you are someone who's into your cocktails. Helmed by Antonio Lai, Quinary draws customers in with their interesting molecular mixology that entails deconstructing and re-interpreting classic cocktails. They even have a rotary evaporator that infuses and redistills the base spirits and makes use of a centrifuge to combine ingredients and flavour combinations. Intrigued already?

Their crowd-pleaser Earl Grey Caviar Martini. It is a mixture of sweet and sour, Cointreau, Absolut vodka, elderflower syrup topped with earl grey caviar and air. SO GOOD.

Orange peel stamped w their name

They surprised Eugene w a strawberry alcohol ice-cream that comes w marshmallows for his birthday so I'm pretty sure they have this on their menu as well.

Perks of dating a bartender lol. You get to try things like wasabi vodka and lemongrass tequila

56-58 Hollywood Road, G/F, Central

+852 2851 3223

(Monday to Saturday) 5pm - 1am

MTR: Central

CLASSIFIED

The streets of Hong Kong are also littered with many cafes around. Classified is one located in Sheung Wan area. They have a very chill rustic vibe to it, somewhere you wanna sit with a good book and a cuppa coffee for the entire day

108 Hollywood Road, SOHO, Sheung Wan

+852 2525 3454

8am - 12midnight

MTR: Sheung Wan

LIAN XIANG LOU

If you wanna experience having dim sum breakfast the Hong Kong way, this is the place to go. Be mindful that the staff here may be rude and they only speak in Cantonese, unless you meet certain friendly kind souls that are willing to help you out in Chinese or even English if you can't speak the dialect.

Basically, everything's self-service here. You seat yourself, order tea from the waitress and they will hand you a card. There will be ladies wheeling carts around with various dim sum and you bring the card to them and choose what you want and carry them back to the table yourself. This place tends to get rowdy because of the crowd and all that noise but the experience cannot get any more authentic than this. You've never been to HK before if you've not experienced this.

160-164 Wellington Street, Sheung Wan

+852 2544 4556

(Daily) 9am - 10pm

MTR: Central

LITTLE BAO

If you can't tell by the trend already, all the great places to eat are near the Central/Sheung Wan area so if you're wise enough, choose to stay somewhere near that area.

Little Bao's a very small restaurant that serves up bao and other yummy stuff. We were being greedy and ordered almost the entire menu.

Their short-rib pan fried dumplings comes w slow-braised organic OBE beef short ribs and a celeriac coleslaw. The beef certainly melts in your mouth and it was very out of this world. I love it.

For the Baos, we ordered their signature pork belly bao which comprised of slow-braised pork belly, leek & shiso red onion salad, sesame dressing and hoisin ketchup. Definitely an interesting rendition of our famous kong ba bao that we know all too well

A specialty for the day - this wasn't on their menu. It's the spicy fried chicken bao which came w chili garlic black bean mayo and scallion coleslaw. I think I actually preferred this to the pork belly one. Don't get me wrong. Both were delicious but if I have to pick a favourite, I'll pick the spicy fried chicken one simply because the sauce was so GOOD! So good.

If you thought this was any other ordinary mac & cheese, you're wrong. Instead of pasta, they used steamed rice rolls and it's covered with a mentaiko cheese sauce. I am not kidding when I tell you we licked every morsel of cheese off the bowl.

We also tried the Eggplant and Shiso Pork Tempura that comes w a ume ponzu dip. This wasn't as mind-blowing as the rest though but still delectable.

Ice-cream sandwich boas! So cute haha

Deep fried bao with green tea ice-cream and their special salted caramel ice-cream for the day and topped w condensed milk.

I got them to surprise sneak-attack Eugene w them cos it was his actual birthday. The staff were so friendly and even dug up the birthday song for him. Very very nice people.

G/F 66 Staunton Street

+852 12194 0202

(Monday to Saturday) 6pm - 12midnight

MTR: Central/Sheung Wan

THE ENVOY

Another bar under Antonio Lai, The Envoy was only 2 days in operation when we visited. It's located inside a boutique hotel so the interior's very well-furnished. They serve up proper food as well and they have seating located inside the bar for it.

Comes w very interesting drinks too. I had the Dinosaur which consisted of Absolut Elyx, Godiva chocolate liqueur, evaporated milk and a Milo ice ball topped w Milo powder. I swear it was more of like a dessert than a drink. It's pretty dangerous because I felt like I wasn't drinking alcohol at all. The milo ball could be smashed and when it dilutes, it's like another drink on its own.

Beside it is the Birds of a Feather drink consisting of Talisker 10 years, blueberry & pomegranate tea syrup, wild blueberry jam, malt essence and lemon juice. One great thing about the drinks here is that their presentation is so awesome and the glasses they use are so unique. I'm sucha sucker for pretty glasswares and drinks

Spot the pandan leaf in the hair

3/F The Pottinger Hong Kong

74 Queen's Road Central

+852 2169 3311

(Monday to Sunday) 1130am - 2am

MAK'S NOODLES

Mak's noodles need no introduction because they are very popular. Their noodles are very bouncy and that's probable their drawing factor. Beef tendons are really tender as well

It is a chain restaurant and located everywhere in HK so just google it!

18 GRAMS

One of the more popular cafes in HK with their very iconic corner shop space. I was really shocked though cos the space was so tiny, it could probably only fit 10 people in the cafe.

Since coffee is subjective, what I like may not be what you like. Hence, I'm going to say that this isn't my favourite and the coffee was okay only.

Unit C, G/F, 15 Cannon Street, Causeway Bay, HK

+852 2893 8988

MTR: Causeway Bay

TIM HO WAN

Yes, they have it here in Singapore too. Not just one now, but a few outlets. Somehow a trip to HK just seems inconclusive now without paying a visit to the ever so famous Tim Ho Wan. Still relieving the very first time I visited their outlet in Mong Kok (which has now closed down) a few years back and having to queue 3 hours for it.